My right turn …
Posted by Tiffany Cooper
… Until a month ago, I had always taken the same route to church. It never occurred to me that there might be a more efficient route. One day, unexpectedly, a staff member said, “You know there’s a faster way to go if you turn right instead of left?” What? No, I didn’t know that! In fact, I would never think to turn right because that points south and I need to go north. It goes against my instinct. You can probably guess what happened next. I decided to try the new route, I turned right and it was completely more efficient. I laugh to think of all the years I bypassed the better option without knowing it.
The same is true for all of us in life. We can get so used to doing something one way that we bypass a better option. For instance, I spent 10 years entering all my family’s expenses into a spreadsheet by hand. Then one day I finally threw away my spreadsheet system and starting using a recommended online system and my task became much easier. On another occasion I discovered how to search for an email without actually searching through all the emails. Yep, I was the technologically challenged individual who overlooked the simple search box for years. Now type in a name and all the related emails pop up on my screen, genius.
In the same way, it’s easy for ministries to overlook newer solutions and tools because they’re so focused on what they’re already doing. This involves both complex and simple matters. My recent example from the simple side: I enjoy hosting events for the staff wives and female staff of People’s Church. It’s always a challenge to find a time that’s good for everyone. I originally planned evening events but felt like I needed a better way to connect the ladies. After receiving encouragement from Carmen Meeks, I now host lunches for the staff ladies and wives at the church and it’s been fantastic. The combination of daytime and evening events is a perfect combo to connect the ladies. I just had to rethink my original plan.
A few suggestions:
- Talk to someone who does things completely different from you. They may have insight that would be beneficial to your life.
- Isolate an area of your life and think about it from every angle. Flip it upside down and out of your normal zone. You may discover a helpful change to implement.
- Answer the questions: Why did I start doing a task this way? Did I come to my own conclusion or did somebody tell me to do it that way? What do I know now that I didn’t know then?
- Be flexible to try something new and then be flexible if it doesn’t work.
After examining your life, you may discover that everything is just as you want it to be. But, what if you could actually make areas of your life more efficient? Wouldn’t that be fantastic? I know that I smile every time I turn right instead of left on my way home from church!
Have you ever experienced a moment like mine when you realized you could do something in a more efficient way? An easier way?
4 Responses to “My right turn …”
February 14th, 2013 at 3:15 pmGood word! Thanks Tiffany!
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February 15th, 2013 at 10:31 am“Be flexible to try something new and then be flexible if it doesn’t work”
very good wisdom. It’s tough to try to do things differently when you have always done them a certain way. For me, it’s hard to do things differetly that maybe were someone elses idea to do it a different way. It can be very humbling when the advice actually is a better way.
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February 18th, 2013 at 8:55 pmThank You, Tiffany for sharing! It truly Blessed me:)
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You’re Welcome, Kathy!!! Really great to hear from you:)
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